Screw types in 1850?

[holzwurm]

Still collecting bits and pieces for my next rifle and wondered about the type of screw heads to use. I know makers then made a lot of their own screws, but were all of them flat-slotted? Has anyone seen oval headed?
Thanks

 

[Phil Coffins]

Screws weren’t standardized by 1850 but most everything was being made. Straight slots were nearly always used and the head shape could be any contour. Many screws were machine made but any gunsmith could and would make whatever suited his needs. All size and thread pitch could be found. The rear sight screw on a 1859 Sharps is a #7 X 32 thread, find one of those!

 

[ohio ramrod]

Many old time smiths made their own screws using a "screw plate". It was a plate of steel with parallel groves chiseled into it. The stock would be heated and then laid at an angle and hammered into the groves with a brass hammer as the stock was turned. Then the screw would be cut off and the head formed.Production for the civil war led to more uniform screws being made in quanity.

 

[The Crisco Kid]

I've been told by someone who has studied the subject for decades that many of the early screw head slots were slightly v'd. Wider at the top than at the bottom.

 

[sheriff john]

I've been told by someone who has studied the subject for decades that many of the early screw head slots were slightly v'd. Wider at the top than at the bottom.

Many modern gun screw slots are, also. Quite common on European firearms. Easy to bugger, hard to fix properly.